[WikiEN-l] declining numbers of EN wiki admins - The theory that making it easier to get rid of admins is a solution to the decline in their active numbers

[David Lindsey]

I'm not quite sure if this responding to what I wrote or to other bits
above, but it seems in part to apply to what I said, so I will respond
accordingly.  First of all, my proposal was not meant, in any sense, to
suggest supplanting consensus with the arbitrary judgement of bureaucrats.
To the contrary, it's meant to help capture consensus.  The fact of the
matter is that, in contoversial matters (which are the ones where admins get
in trouble) it is difficult, by definition, to determine what the consensus
is.  Bureaucrats are a group of users in whose ability to determine
consensus the community has expressed extraordinary confidence.  Thus, they
are ideally placed to find the consensus in these difficult areas.

Secondly, there is often a legitimacy problem (more in user behavior related
areas than XfDs).   If one administrator of no particular standing imposes a
block on someone, it appear less justified than if a user in whom the
community has expressed extra confidence does the same (though, to the
blocked user, both may well look illegitimate).

Third, and unrelatedly, I'd like to point out another advantage of what I
propose.  Term limits on administrators are often proposed, but are utterly
impractical, in large part because we have over 1500 admins (not all active
of course).  On the other hand, the number of people needed to help
determine consensus in particularly contentious areas is not likely to
exceed 50 or 60 people.  It would be entirely practicable to term-limit a
group of this size.

  On Mon, May 31, 2010 at 11:11 PM, David Goodman <dgoodmanny at gmail.com>wrote:
>
>> Administrators differ in competence, and perhaps even in
>> trustworthiness,  but I think experience has shown that not even the
>> most experienced and trusted of all will always correctly interpret
>> the view of the community, and that nobody whomsoever can really trust
>> himself or be trusted by others to be free from bias. I see no reason
>> to think that the long-term administrators are any more likely to show
>> neutrality or a proper self-perception as the newer ones. If anything,
>> they are more likely to have an over-extensive bview of the centrality
>> of their own ideas.   Consequently, I think   there is no other basis
>> by which any administrator can make a decision except by consensus,
>> implied or express . For those who are   willing to read beyond the
>> first paragraph:
>
>